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The King of Fighters XII Ignites Your PS3 this Week

The fighting game gurus at SNK PLAYMORE have finally put the finishing touches on the PLAYSTATION 3 release of The King of Fighters XII, the long-awaited next-generation rebirth of this revered arcade fighting franchise. The game will be available at retail tomorrow, July 28th, and we here at Ignition Entertainment are thrilled to help bring this all-new hand-drawn 2D fighter to the North American market first. That’s right; U.S. gamers will get their hands on the game before their counterparts in Asia and Europe…so early adopters can train for a few days to hone their skills before facing online challengers from KOF’s Japanese homeland.

Series veterans likely already know the franchise’s unique history—back in 1994, characters from classic Neo Geo series including Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Ikari Warriors were brought together to create a unique and revolutionary three-on-three fighting game known simply as The King of Fighters ’94. For the next decade, KOF reigned as one of the most beloved fighting game franchises ever, with annual updates satiating fans’ desires for updated rosters and gameplay evolution. But in 2004, KOF mysteriously went on hiatus and fans knew SNK PLAYMORE had to be planning a massive overhaul for the venerated fighting series. It’s now been nearly half a decade since The King of Fighters was last seen, and The King of Fighters XII arrives just in time to celebrate the franchise’s 15th anniversary.

King of Fighters XII has taken the next evolutionary step with radically reworked gameplay, glorious high-resolution 2D graphics, and silky smooth animation. SNK PLAYMORE has spared no effort lovingly hand crafting each of the 22 characters to forge the most gorgeous 2D fighting game ever seen, coupled with a selection of lively, intricately detailed stages spanning the globe. The idea that 2D sprite graphics that could be compared to animated films was once an inconceivable dream, but that promise has been fulfilled with KOF XII’s fluidly moving fighters.

PS3 pugilists looking for a single-player experience can challenge the traditional Arcade Mode, change focus with the Time Attack Mode, or even unlock a wealth of attractive artwork in the Gallery. But as usual, the game truly shines in a Versus setting—grab a buddy, plug in a second controller (or even better, a joystick), and watch the hours melt away (and the thumb blisters build). You can also battle head to head via the Playstation Network to engage players online all over the world. With 8-player online lobbies, KOF XII simulates the arcade experience of days long past—prospective fighters can be spectators during other players’ fights and then “quarter up” and play the winner.

KOF XII players can also experience the revolutionary, PLAYSTATION 3-exclusive Clan Mode, a unique feature that allows players with a common goal to band together as a members-only club in order to create the most dominant online Clan possible. You’ll be able to send out a Clan newsletter, kick out members who aren’t carrying their weight, and challenge other Clans to move up the international Clan leaderboard. PS3 players will also be able to download an exclusive theme featuring sultry female fighters Elizabeth and Mature, and should look forward to a slew of upcoming downloadable content that will be made available on PSN. And don’t forget about full Playstation 3 Trophy support, allowing players to be rewarded for their skill and to flaunt their accolades as true badges of honor.

Don’t miss out. History is being made and you can be a part of it with The King of Fighters XII – the ultimate fighting game for the ultimate fighting game fan.

Bought this game already. It has VERY little to offer for 60 bucks. There aren’t any endings or any kind of story. Just arcade, VS, and online. And the only unlockables are gallery art that you can already find online. This game should have been called KOF HD REMIX and released as a PSN title. I feel like I wasted 60 bucks, just thought I would pass that along. If you want a 2D fighter worth 60 bucks buy BlazBlue instead.

According to consumer services, my PS3 has already ignited. Or as they say, two minutes after I turned it on it ‘over heated’. I now have a $599 book end.

$599 for a piece of junk. A very expensive piece of junk. $150 for repair and no one will tell me what that includes. A $20 power supply or a processing board, is still $150. For another $250 I can get a new system. So two more instances of this ‘over heating’ and I’ve spent enough to buy 2 PS3s.

I played the game last night, surprisingly poor and disappointing. First thing I noticed is all these jagged-edges on the characters, the game is not even up to HD resolution. They even added the option to blur the edges which makes it look even cheaper.

One thing is to fluidly animate the movements of a character, and one totally different thing is to make it play with the expected fluidity. If the intention was to make it play like a KOF game from 10 years ago, then I guess that’s ok, just be warned. Arcade mode is a “time-trial” with poor presentation involving a “News channel”, the art-style doesn’t fit the game, and it’s boring. What happened to the trademark SNK art style of old?

Backgrounds? They aren’t up to resolution either and they don’t fit with the overall art style. Every character in the background is a deformed muppet you’d think you are watching an animated French movie. I didn’t like those silly weird cartoons at all.

BLACK LOADING SCREENS before each new fighter entering the stage! Was that intended to give it a retro feel too? I thought I was playing a PSONE.

This game doesn’t do any justice to their name and the KOF franchise, and it’s a scam!

I put the game up for sale on Ebay after playing it for two days. For $60 it just didn’t have enough on the disc. No story mode, no unlockable characters/costumes/stages. I wouldn’t be fretting on this game so much if it came out on the PSN for $15-$20, at least the price would match the content. Even if the online, which was horrid, was patched and was running smoothly it still wouldn’t be enough to let me keep the game.

And Ignition, why must I play around with Soft Filters? Why couldn’t the models be perfect right out of the box? As soon as I started playing the game I asked myself “Why are all the characters… pixelated?” We shouldn’t have to do that.

It all boiled down to “Is it fun?” KoF, to me, was not fun at all. For now, BlazBlue reigns supreme for 2D fighters. Sorry Ignition.